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I’m an ardent campaigner for peace on earth. I dream of it, think of it, and write about it. But it seems I’m not doing enough.
When I read the newspaper or view the TV news, I hardly see any comforting and peaceful news stories. They are all full of incidents of hatred, violence, and war.
Nevertheless, I won’t give up. I believe in the dream that I have of achieving peace on earth and I’m sure that I’m going to realize it one day.
“I’ll see and feel peace. I’ll live in a peaceful world.”
Am I being impractical and too much of an idealist? Is this an impossible task?
Absolutely not.
Peace on earth is achievable and all I’ve to do is ACT.
Actions are louder than words, and I’ve to act responsibly to make peace happen.
Have you too ever thought on the same lines?
Even if you haven’t, read further to know how you too can contribute for world peace.
But as always, let’s get to the drawing board to understand the definitions, before we draw the plan of action to materialize peace as a reality.
“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” ~Mother Teresa
What is Peace
I think you already know what peace is and I’m sure you all have felt the need to have peace in life some time or the other.
When you think of peace, you imagine non-violence, love, and happiness.
Peace is a state where you are yourself without any conflicts with anyone, when you do things you like, and remain calm and cool.
Isn’t that what peace means for you?
According to the dictionary, peace is freedom from disturbance, and experiencing quiet and tranquility. Peace is freedom from or the cessation of war or violence.
Wikipedia defines peace as an occurrence of harmony characterized by lack of violence, conflict behaviors and the freedom from fear of violence.
There’s more to peace.
Peace is also about having justice, good health, safety, well-being, prosperity, equity, security, good fortune, and friendliness in life.
Well, not all may have all of these in their life. But it does not mean that if you do not possess any one of these characteristics, you will not be peaceful.
Actually peaces emanates from LUCK – love, understanding, compassion, and kindness. However, the quality of life and the conditions of living are also important factors.
DO READ: Simple Steps to Finding Happiness in Life
“The more we sweat in peace the less we bleed in war.” ~Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
Conditions and Factors Responsible for Achieving Peace
We hold a lot many things responsible for the lack of peace on earth.
Let me share an excerpt from the website of International Alert.
It goes on to set conditions or objectives that can prepare the ground for establishment of peace.
According to International Alert, peace is when people are able to resolve their conflicts without violence and can work together to improve the quality of their lives. Peace is when:
- Everyone lives in safety, without fear or threat of violence, and no form of violence is tolerated in law or in practice.
- Everyone is equal before the law, the systems for justice are trusted and fair, and effective laws protect people’s rights.
- Everyone is able to participate in shaping political decisions and the government is accountable to the people.
- Everyone has fair and equal access to the basic needs for their well-being – such as food, clean water, shelter, education, healthcare and a decent living environment.
- Everyone has an equal opportunity to work and make a living, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or any other aspect of identity.
It’s true, if you achieve the above stated objectives, you’re at peace. I call this the outer peace.
The realization of the above conditions might appear to be on the idealistic side.
It’s difficult to make “everyone” conform to the conditions and ideas of achieving world peace.
Safety and security, fairness of law, caring and effective government, availability of basic needs, and equal opportunities indeed help us have less conflicts and more happiness.
All people, organizations, and governments should put their best foot forward to achieve these objectives to bring peace on earth.
The task gets difficult because we are dealing with it on a mega scale and macro level.
The solution is to work alongside at the micro level on individual basis, making people be aware, understand, and be at peace internally.
YOU MIGHT LIKE TO READ: Finding Peace Within Yourself
We know that conflicts are interpersonal, inter-community, inter-society, or inter-national too.
Basically, you are responsible for your interpersonal relationships and the government is accountable for the inter-national relationships.
However, what everything comes down to and the most important factor for achieving peace, is the relationship that you have with your own SELF.
It’s always easy, efficient and manageable to work from the ground level, target the roots, and try to change the unit – to change the entire block.
MUST READ: How To Lead A Good Life and Be Happy
“Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
How Can We Achieve Peace on Earth
Now, you have the direction and the strategy. You know what to target and where to focus.
- The basic reason for the lack of peace on earth is that there is lack of inner peace in people.
- The lack of inner peace is due to lack of happiness in the life of people.
If people are happy, they are at peace, and vice-versa. They are content, calm, and cool.
If you are not happy with yourself, you could be stressed, confused, depressed, frustrated, irritated, agitated or suffer from any other negative feeling or behavior.
Your negativity can become infectious or spread in the society.
Moreover, if you like to blame people or things for your unhappiness, then you may create ruckus that can grow into violence or war.
But you don’t earn peace by violence and war.
To achieve peace, you need to learn to be happy. When you are happy, you’re positive. In that state, all your reactions are positive, and you refrain from reacting negatively.
Here is how happiness can change the state of the world, from micro to macro levels.
- A happy individual is generally free of conflicts. If there are more happy people, there are fewer conflicts. A happy person is the unit of a happy and peaceful world.
- A group of happy people will be more peaceful than that of unhappy people. There will be more positivity than negativity.
- A community of predominantly happy people will be peaceful and productive. Without friction of conflicts and negativity, there will be high efficiency and more creativity.
- A society that believes in and has norms that promote happiness will be peaceful than societies that have norms, rituals, and traditions that hurt people and make them unhappy.
- A nation will be peaceful if all or most of its citizens practically implement happiness and adopt a lifestyle or mindset that makes them good and happy.
- The world will be peaceful if there are more happy people, communities, societies, and nations. A happy world will be peaceful. There will be no conflicts and wars.
Therefore, the achievement of peace on earth depends on you. If you are happy and at peace, you’ll set the ball rolling.
Even the governments will have happy and positive people who are not corrupt, are hardworking, and devoted to making the world happy.
Also, serious issues will be dealt with sincerely. Conversations will dilute the conflicts and dialogues will replace wars.
It’s like the domino effect, started by one, the peace and happiness will spread to others and around the world.
Peace on earth starts with YOU.
If you are not happy, you may be endangering peace on earth.
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“I think it’s naive to pray for world peace if we’re not going to change the form in which we live.” ~ Godfrey Reggio
Peace Day
International Day of Peace is celebrated each year on 21 September. This is the day for cease-fire, shunning violence, and to put a stop on creating disturbance.
The international peace day is celebrated as the day of spreading harmony and tranquility, to indulge in activities that promote happiness and peace.
Watch this short one-minute video by the non-profit organization “Peace One Day” that will tell you about the Peace Day.
The peace one day story in one minute ~ YouTube Video
If you are a little interested and motivated, then watch this 7-minute video about how you can help create peace.
You can click here to know more about the organization Peace One Day that is making it possible to create a cease-fire and non-violence day.
You can also know about more organizations that are working to make people aware about Peace Day, here and here.
This year, the United Nations (UN) theme on the International Day of Peace is “Rights of People to Peace”.
“Do you know that there are only 11 countries in the world that are actually free from conflict? Read this shocking report by The Independent.”
Let’s make a U-turn for Utopia. Let’s make peace not conflicts.
RELATED READ: How to Transform Your Life and Be Happy
“Peace can only last where human rights are respected, where the people are fed, and where individuals and nations are free.” ~ Dalai Lama
What Can You Do On Peace Day
You can indulge in any activity that starts, encourages, spreads, or celebrates peace.
Simple and small things like giving a smile to strangers, doing a good deed, being kind to people or animals, having good intentions, helping others, lighting a candle, saying prayers, meditating, spreading the word about peace on social media, or writing a post that promotes peace.
You can even go all out and make peace with your old friends with whom you might have had problems. Or make up with your spouse, family, or anyone else – all for peace. 🙂
Domestic violence too is a breach of peace. Abuse of women and children, disrespect of elders, torture of animals, and hurting the sentiments too are acts of violence.
Stop all violence – let there be no place for violence in your intentions, thoughts, words, or actions.
We need both inner peace and outer peace to bring peace on earth.
The quality of life and good living standards, facilities, and things do matter, but they cannot rob or deprive you of your happiness and peace if you want.
Having said that, the absence of basic necessities make things difficult, we all need to contribute to make them available to all the people of the world.
Let the organizations and governments do their part. We need to play our role, each one of us.
Issues are complex, but the solution is simple. Yet, it is difficult to achieve. In fact, it’s easier to conquer the world than to conquer your SELF.
Once you do that, you can tap into the unlimited happiness trapped with you and bring it proactively into your life.
The state of true happiness is being at peace. You become peace and remain in that blissful state.
Heaven is the land or state where all people are happy and in peace. We all can work together towards creating a heaven on earth. Each person counts.
I’m happy that my dream of world peace is achievable.
Let’s start with our own selves – becoming peace and being happy. I’ve started, what about you?
Reading this post will help you take further actionable steps: How To Be Happy In Life
“Five great enemies to peace inhabit with us: avarice, ambition, envy, anger, and pride. If those enemies were to be banished, we should infallibly enjoy perpetual peace.” ~Francesco Petrarch
Share Your Thoughts:
Do you believe you can contribute to and are responsible for achieving peace on earth? What do you do to not endanger the peace and help create heaven on earth?
Photo Credit: FreeDigitalPhotos, Kristin Elmquist
